Dillon Gabriel details concussion recovery process, return

Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel made his return to play this weekend for the first time following a concussion he suffered against TCU, leading the Sooners to a 52-42 win over No. 19 Kansas. Gabriel helped bring Oklahoma their first conference win of the season this weekend, but his road to playing on Saturday was not easy.

“Kind of had a clue this Wednesday, felt like we had a chance Texas week but just really trusted the docs and trusted the trainers, knew they were trying to get me back as fast as possible but also to protect me at the same time,” Gabriel said. “So just trusted them and throughout the week just a bunch of conversations, a bunch of concussion tests, and then meeting with the doc two to three times a week. But thankfully, like I said, got the full clearance this week and felt really good to be back out there.”

Gabriel did not play in the Red River Rivalry game last week, and the Sooners could’ve definitely used him in that 49-0 blowout loss. But he came back strong for them this week, throwing for 403 yards and two touchdowns, along with one on the ground in their win.

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“I mean it’s tough, you see your guys that you work so hard with and feel like I wasn’t out there to help be with them and obviously it left a bad taste in all of our mouths. But shoot we just had to keep grinding and find a way to come out on top and I think that’s what I love about our guys, they’re very selfless and look themselves in the mirror and see how they can be better for this team. And I feel like everyone did a good job of that this week,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel pulled back the curtain on what his recovery process was like, as he battled back from an injury that may be the most unique and complex to recover from in all of football.

“I think it was a lot to comprehend at the time just because of I guess the hit in general or the backlash, but most importantly I just took the two days, the first 48 hours just being super cautious,” Gabriel explained. “Not being on my phone, not being on any TVs or watching anything, I think I was maybe awake for eight hours a day, you know sleeping most the day.”

Gabriel’s dedication clearly paid off for him and the Sooners, as they hope he can lead them to more Big 12 victories in their last five games of the season.

“So just made that a point of emphasis, listened to the trainers and like I said they just put me in a good spot and I’m lucky to even get cleared this week because the severity of it is different for everyone. But I took the healing process seriously so that I could put myself in a good spot,” Gabriel said.